What a gorgeous picture of Seattle!
Oh my city, how I love you!!!Seattle.
(courtesy of KIRO7)
It was a lovely, foggy morning in Seattle. What a great picture!
Some pictures from my vacation where I flew to Seattle, then traveled from Seattle to Vancouver via motorcycle by way of a ferry ride to Whidbey Island, vacationed in Vancouver several days and then headed back to Seattle. Thought I’d share….
(**Still updating some pics & haven’t edited them yet.**)
Vacationing Part Two - Seattle, WA
I have never been to the Pacific Northwest. I’ve always wanted to go and explore, yet never had the opportunity or reason to really do so. That changed recently and I got my first glimpse this past August 2012. Unfortunately dure to most of the vacation taking place in Vancouver, BC; I was only in Seattle for twenty-four hours prior to leaving for Vancouver and twenty-four hours after coming back from Vancouver. So forty-eight hours is all I got, but boy did I do a lot in the hours. There is one thing also that I learned for sure. Seattle is a place I definitely need to go back and visit for a length of time.
I flew to Seattle and opted to stay at Hotel Max. It is an amazing boutique hotel downtown. I stayed both twenty-four hour times and enjoyed it immensely. Each floor has a theme. The first stay I was in a queen room and the second stay I managed to stay in a king bed room. I will admit that I prefer the king bed room. It had a bit more space and a one room full bath. The queen room I had was perfectly fine, I just didn’t care for the shower being in what perhaps used to be a closet, the toilet and sink in another seeming former closet and then of course the closet. The king room seemed a bit more roomy also which was nice as I had a lot of luggage (regular suitcase & motorcycle luggage I had shipped). The staff at Hotel Max is incredible and I can honestly say that I have never stayed anywhere with the staff and personal customer service they have. They are a boutique hotel, in a historical building so certain things are different, older, a wee bit smaller. I’d def stay there again though. Also, if you are into hotel rewards, they are part of group that offers rewards for boutique hotels. I joined. Anyway, check out http://www.hotelmaxseattle.com/
I got there in the wee hours of Thursday morning (East Coast time) and was up very early due to the same East Coast time internal clock. I met Amy and we were off to a local donut shop (I can’t recall the name for some reason) and then off to pick up my motorcycle. I shipped my motorcycle from Tampa to Tacoma via STI Delivery local agents. So yes I had to go all the way from Seattle to Tacoma which was made much easier thanks to Amy graciously taking me. Amy took the day off to basically meet a stranger and take her around Seattle touring. After the motorcycle was back to the hotel, off we went touring Seattle.
I do love Seattle. Right on the water, lots of nature around, the mountains close by and in view, and the overall cleanliness of the city. We first went to Pike’s Market and boy do I wish we had markets even close to this in Florida. Surely there is a way. We also saw the wall of gum (yuck) while down at Pike’s. We walked. We then went over to and up to the top of the Space Needle (http://www.spaceneedle.com/). What an amazing view! This is a definite must for first-time visitors. After that was a bit of lunch while we chatted and continued to get acquainted. Amy and I hit it right off which was good as we’d be traveling together to Vancouver via motorcycle. After lunch we went down to Pioneer Square. We walked and looked around a little while we waited to take The Underground Tour. The Underground Tour was terrific, interesting and worth doing (http://www.undergroundtour.com/). I’m glad we did that. I didn’t have much time in Seattle, yet think all we did was a definite must. After the Underground Tour it was off to supper. Via email we had decided to try the Crab Pot (http://www.thecrabpotseattle.com/). It’s a local seafood place down on the water where they literally dump out your food onto the table. Just check out the site. The food was delicious, the atmosphere incredible and a good time was had. We were going to ride the giant ferris wheel close by, yet the line was so long and we’d been going all day. So, we called it a night. Besides, the next morning we were heading off to Vancouver, BC via Whidbey Island by motorcycle.
A few pics from my first twenty-four hours in Seattle are here -
To be continued…….
Vacation…
There is nothing like an honest to goodness vacation. Sure, I am fortunate that I can take some long weekends here and there, yet I ALWAYS still have to work no matter where I am at. This year for the first time in three years, I put my foot down and told my boss that I needed a real break. I took seven whole work days off in August without doing any work or really being in contact with the office. It was glorious. I highly recommend it.
In addition, I did something I have never done and loved every minute of it. What did I do? Well, for starters I shipped my motorcycle out to Seattle, WA so that I could ride to Vancouver, BC to spend several days. On top of that, I was not only shipping my motorcycle to Seattle and flying out to Seattle to start my vacation adventure; yet I was meeting/traveling with someone on this adventure who is also a fellow rider but someone I did not know. Grant it I wasn’t sure how this would work out. Yes, we seemed quite similar in interests and such while internet chatting, yet we were also obviously very different. Still, it worked out wonderfully and now I have a fabulous new friend on the other side of the US who happens to also enjoy travel and motorcycling.
I flew out to Seattle on a Wednesday night. Met my new friend, picked up my motorcycle and toured Seattle on Thursday and then headed off to Vancouver, BC on Friday. We took the long way to Vancouver, BC via motorcycle. My motorcycle and I had our first ferry ride, taking the ferry over to Whidbey island. Then we would our way across the island, over Deception Pass and through some beautiful mountains with water views. It was an amazing ride and though took pretty much all day, it was well worth it. We didn’t get into Vancouver, BC to our hotel until about 7pm that Friday night after leaving around 11am that Friday morning. If you can ever ride the Pacific Northwest via motorcycle, I HIGHLY recommend it.
Now, part of the reason, excuse, etc. for going to Vancouver, BC was to attend TFE2012. Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant about this event as I am almost forty-five years old, have never done any event like this pertaining to a tv show I enjoy and well, honestly, felt a bit silly going. I am not one to seek out celebs, filming locations, etc. and well, I am not really impressed by mere celeb-ism. Just because a person is famous, doesn’t mean I am impressed by him/her or interested in meeting him/her. Anyway, I digress. The TFE2012 weekend revolved around the show Fringe. Now, I do truly love the show Fringe. I am also VERY impressed by the acting. This cast is well, amazing. Much to my surprise I have gotten quite attached to the characters and quite invested in the show itself. However, going to Vancouver, BC and touring around seeking out filming locations and such I was not sure at all was for me. What interested me was the opportunity to check out Vancouver, BC itself; and, well, I was interested in seeing what TFE2012 would be like and what the people that attended would be like. They had just under 100 people going to this. At one point however, I had decided not to go until Amy posted about riding motorcycles from Seattle to Vancouver; then, after chatting with her I decided to do it. So off I went to Seattle, then Vancouver, BC. We also rode motorcycles along the Sea to Sky Hwy up to Whistler, BC and back in Vancouver, BC tried to catch a bit of Fringe filming on set. We missed the filming and yes, sitting for hours can be a bit boring; yet the people I also met there and hung out with there were wonderful people to chat with and get to know.
I realize this blog post is getting long here so I will post later about the details of the trip to Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC along with some pictures. It was an AMAZING trip, with some amazing people and I have been blessed to have made many new friends along the journey. Seattle is an incredibly beautiful city and one I will have to go back to and spend more time. I have to say though that I absolutely fell in love with Vancouver, BC and definitely want to spend more time there. Now, I was blessed to be there during August which is when both cities have some of their best weather. Having that amazing weather made the trip I think the best vacation ever (outside of my trip to Spain many years ago). What made the trip the best vacation though was not only the city itself, yet the traveling via motorcycle to get there and the wonderful people I met during the trip! Some of these people I now call friends and keep in touch with until we meet up again.
On a final note, I will also say that I am so glad I went to TFE2012. If that makes me more of a nerd, geek or what have you, then so be it. I had experiences and met people that I would not have had otherwise. It was an incredible trip and though I about walked myself to death, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I am thrilled that I was able to step out of my self-imposed box, breakout from the mold of my every day life, try something new, take a wonderful adventure, explore new places, meet new people and yes…I think I am a somewhat changed person from having done such. Getting out of my comfort zone, doing something totally different, something I thought I would really enjoy (no matter what thoughts/comments came from the people I know) and just being in that moment able to relax and play was one of the most incredible things I could do for myself.
Can’t wait for the next adventure……..
(details of my Seattle visit, Vancouver visit, motorcycle travels to come in individual posts)
Another awesome room @hotel_max! The staff is so terrific too! I do miss #vancover tho! #seattle (Taken with Instagram)
On the road …
Had a real blast in Vancouver! It is an amazingly beautiful city! Excellent weather, lots of nature, friendly people and just, well, awesome! If the weather was like thus always, I’d probably move - ha! I’m glad I came and got to explore here! There is so much to see and do. I barely scratched the surface. Think though I am definitely ready for a relocation to some different scenery.
I’m especially happy I decided to bring my own motorcycle. There are some gorgeous rides and having my own motorbike made it all the more fun and special! (Having my bike with me or motorcycle travel may be habit forming though.)
I’ve met some great people too and hope to stay in touch. They are so laid back and friendly!
Had a bit of breakfast, finishing packing and then hitting the road back to Seattle for a day. Back home on Thursday.
More later…
The Adventure Begins…
Today I am writing to you from Seattle. Shortly, I’ll be hopping on the motorcycle, meeting up with a friend and heading to Vancouver, BC. We’ll take the scenic route of course, meandering and just enjoying the ride.
Out of Seattle, we’ll be heading up, taking a ferry and checking out Whidbey Island.
I’ve never been to this part of the US or this side of Canada. It’s so beautiful and I can’t wait to see more. I’m sure there will be several posts/pics from the road (though, due to expense, these will have to wait for free wifi as AT&T is EXPENSIVE is Canada - WTH?).
Time to hit the asphalt….
